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Moscow Never Sleeps

Novelist Martin Cruz Smith and photographer Gerd Ludwig discover the sinister magic of a city that reveals its true colors at night.

/2008/08/moscow-night/img/1-woman-shop-kremlin-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-01.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 6:01 P.M. A shopper scythes through bitter cold to reach a boutique on Red Square. These materialistic days, Marx and Lenin can't compete with Dior and Armani for the hearts of Moscow's consuming class.]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/2-dancers-club-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-02.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 1:44 A.M. The dance floor heats up at Propaganda, one of hundreds of clubs throbbing until dawn in liberated Moscow. Elite clubs practice ruthless "face control," admitting only the beautiful and the connected.]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/3-construction-workers-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-03.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 4:52 P.M. Darkness falls as a building rises along the Moscow River. Laborers, most from former Soviet republics, toil round the clock in a new business district that will boast the tallest skyscraper in Europe.]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/4-restaurant-musicians-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-04.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 10:59 P.M. In the opulent Turandot restaurant, Mozart is merely background to conspicuous consumption that has fueled Moscow's abrupt ascent to the ranks of the world's most expensive cities.]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/5-bikers-motorcycles-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-05.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 12:03 A.M. Bikers roost at midnight on Tver Square. They flaunt rebellious leather, show off Harley and Honda choppers, and brag of outracing cops. Ilya (at left), a real estate dealer by day, explains the appeal of a big bike in Russia: "It's power you control in your hands."]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/6-men-bathhouse-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-06.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 7:30 P.M. Friends Yevgeny, Anatoly, and Viktor polish off an evening with fistfuls of beer and smoked fish at the 200-year-old Sanduny baths, traditional gathering place for Moscow's workaday crowd.]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/7-helping-homeless-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-07.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 10:45 P.M. Angel of the night, volunteer Tatyana Sveshnikova attends to a battered homeless man near Kursk Station. In recent winters, hundreds of homeless have frozen to death on city streets.]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/8-call-girls-club-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-08.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 8:16 P.M. Call girls advertise their assets at Bordo, a private club frequented by Moscow's business and political elite. Prostitution is illegal in Russia, but at Bordo and similar clubs, a client rents a private room with dinner and "escort." After that, says Bordo's manager, "when we close the door, we do not care what happens there." As many as 200 women work the crowd on weekends, when customers pay an average of $1,000 for their night of pleasure.]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/9-subway-station-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-09.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 9:39 A.M. Days begin in the dark for many commuters streaming through Moscow's subway. A Soviet-era monument to the noble proletariat, palatial Komsomol Station now bustles with harried capitalists.]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/10-painter-studio-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-10.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 11:34 P.M. Artist German Vinogradov wields a blowtorch to season the look of his latest landscape. Active in the cultural underground during Soviet times, Vinogradov says, "Nothing is taboo now."]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/11-street-cleaners-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-11.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 5:54 A.M. Weary members of a road crew rest by a movie poster ablaze with Genghis Khan, who conquered part of Russia in the 13th century. Many of the crew are migrants from Central Asia, where the Mongols long ruled.]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/12-road-crew-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-12.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 5:10 A.M. A pre-dawn lull in traffic allows a road crew to pave a street lit by the neon blaze of a slot machine hall called "Jackpot." Crew members include Russians as well as Chechens, Bashkirs, and other ethnic nationalities drawn to Moscow with dreams of striking it rich.]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/13-police-station-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-13.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 2:39 A.M. Two suspected illegal immigrants face trouble after being picked up by police for lacking proper documents. Though police regularly sweep the streets and construction sites for illegals, undocumented workers keep pouring into the capital, desperate to claim a share of Moscow's sudden fortune.]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/14-detective-apartment-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-14.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 12:37 A.M. Grim duty—and neighbors complaining of a horrible stench—bring a police detective to a Moscow apartment. Inside he found the decomposing body of an elderly man, apparently dead of natural causes. The rest of the detective's night passed uneventfully. Notorious in the 1990s for violent crime, including the highest murder rate in Europe, Moscow has seen its homicide rate decline in recent years, and street crime remains relatively rare.]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/15-soho-rooms-club-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-15.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 3:19 A.M. Opening night at the Soho Rooms club runs deep into morning as the decadent, the trendy, and the simply rich celebrate the latest elitny haunt. Anyone under 25—except the dancers—will have difficulty getting past "face control" at the door. "That don't-you-know-who-my-father-is shtick won't get you anywhere," an early review declared. "Soho Rooms wants to see the father, not the kid."]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/16-men-dancing-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-16.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 4:59 A.M. Red-hot desire binds dancers on gay night at Propaganda. Event promoter Roman Filimonov describes Moscow as "quite tolerant" of homosexuality, but adds, "parades are still not permitted." ]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/17-topless-dancer-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-17.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 3:07 A.M. The witching hour strikes with fire and flesh during a floor show at Sexton. A biker group called the Night Wolves started the club in 1992—ancient history in fast-forward Moscow.]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/18-goth-night-club-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-18.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 2:56 A.M. Black and slightly creepy is the dress code for “goth night” at Relax, a mainstay of Moscow's metal music scene. Songs by such Russian metal bands as Melancholy and Forgive-Me-Not keep patrons agreeably morbid.]]> /2008/08/moscow-night/img/19-red-square-kissing-714.jpg /2008/08/moscow-night/img/moscow-night-60-19.jpg Photograph by Gerd Ludwig 8:04 P.M. Strangers in a "flash mob" cued via the Internet show up to kiss amid the crowds near Red Square. From here they'll scatter into the night, reveling in the anything-can-happen world of Moscow after dark.]]>